PARAMUS — A local charity will celebrate a milestone at the crossroads of the world.

Operation Goody Bag is a service project formed in the wake of Sept. 11 that decorates and fills brown lunch bags with candy and letters to give to military men and women, veterans and first responders.

Jane Cosco, a former teacher at East Brook Middle School, started the nonprofit in 2003 as a student service project. Since then, Operation Goody Bag has given out more than 250,000 bags.

On Sept. 12 in Times Square, the Navy will present an award to organization in recognition of the milestone, Cosco said. Fifty Paramus students will also be on hand to present another 1,000 bags to the Fire Department of New York.

A group from the Paramus High School choir will perform as well.

"The kids are excited," Cosco said. "Are you kidding? They're going to sing in Times Square. It's the center of the universe."

On Sept. 11, Operation Goody Bag will also be in Times Square, at Viacom Headquarters, Cosco said. Employees there will color and pack the 1,000 bags to give to the FDNY.

Viacom is also donating funds to purchase 140 special goody bags filled with bath towels and facecloths for the Soldiers' Sailors' Marines' Coast Guard and Airmen's Club, Cosco said. Since 1919, the Lexington Avenue club has offered subsidized accommodations to members of the military.

"They're a wonderful group, and they have 65 to 70 beds in the hotel, and they have terrible towels," Cosco said. "So we worked with Viacom to get together to replace all the towels and facecloths in the club."

For anyone looking to help Operation Goody Bag with its work, the group is holding a coloring event Saturday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Hackensack Supply Company, behind Babies "R" Us on Route 17 south in Paramus.

"We're always looking for groups and organizations and businesses to help us color all year long or help us fill bags," Cosco said.